Tag: HIV | CATIE Blog

HIV criminalization and the Canadian government’s failed law reform project: Another. Incredible. Disappointment. Surprise!

April 2, 2025 • By Chad Clarke with contributions from Colin Johnson

The Government of Canada has broken its promise to reform the laws that criminalize people living with HIV. In November 2024, the Federal Justice Minister’s office informed the Canadian Coalition to Reform HIV Criminalization (CCRHC) that the federal government’s long-promised initiative addressing the “overcriminalization” (their term) of HIV was not going to move forward. This announcement came after almost a decade of difficult work on the part of the HIV community. Blood, sweat and tears and some lives were lost while we worked on developing a workable consensus statement that would satisfy a majority of Parliament. The government squandered time,...

The Kotawêw Indigenous HIV/STBBI Doula Project: How kinship has guided our research journey

February 18, 2025 • By Candace Neumann, Melissa Morris and Rusty Souleymanov

The Kotawêw Indigenous HIV/STBBI Doula Project is a community response to the disproportionate impact of HIV and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs) on Indigenous women and gender-diverse people. While our work is currently in the research phase, our goal is to co-create a curriculum to train Indigenous doulas who can support community members by fostering connections to HIV/STBBI prevention and treatment services through care grounded in kinship and traditional practices. Our core team is made up of Indigenous women and Two-Spirit researchers with lived experience, and allies. The project is co-led by two Elders/Knowledge Holders, Albert McLeod and...

Providing STBBI services to trans people: Beyond kindness, what truly matters?

February 18, 2025 • By Asya Gunduz

It is around 11 p.m. and I am getting an urgent call from a friend who is a community member and a refugee trans woman living with HIV. She is telling me that she cannot get the urgent treatment she needs at the hospital and that the front desk misgendered her many times and frowned upon her broken English. Later, I learned that different clinics denied and delayed her HIV and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) meds for different reasons like lack of insurance or language barrier. Another community member who is nonbinary, assigned female at birth, was constantly questioned at...

Why sex education needs to evolve

February 13, 2025 • By Roxanne Ma and Jazmine George

Revenge porn, sexting, nudes, unsolicited dick pics, catfishing, dating apps, OnlyFans, consent, queer sex, polyamory—the list goes on. It’s safe to say that youth today are growing up in a drastically different context than previous generations when it comes to discovering and navigating their sexuality, identity, relationships, sexual health and safety. Young people today are arguably more vulnerable than previous generations due to higher levels of interconnectedness and exposure to false or harmful content on the internet. The need for modern supports to help young Canadians navigate these online spaces, content and interactions is vital. The sex talk reboot The...

Realizing PrEP’s full potential: It’s time to broaden awareness and access

November 19, 2024 • By Mallory Harrigan

PrEP is a highly effective tool for preventing HIV, but remains underused by many populations who could benefit. In order to realize PrEP’s full potential to dramatically reduce the number of HIV transmissions in Canada, there’s an urgent need to scale up its use and broaden its reach. Promisingly, PrEP has played a role in reducing the number of HIV transmissions among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM), who make up the vast majority of people currently using PrEP in Canada. For example, studies have shown that PrEP contributed to declines in HIV transmissions among...

Strong Medicine: Seven years later

November 13, 2024 • By Danita Wahpoosewyan and Trevor Stratton

In 2018, CATIE and CAAN (Communities, Alliances & Networks) released Strong Medicine, a film by and for Indigenous people living with HIV. The film weaves together Indigenous knowledges of culture and wellness with Western knowledge of HIV testing and treatment. By sharing their experiences with Indigenous and Western medicines, eight Indigenous activists teach us that HIV isn’t something to be feared and show us different ways to walk the healing path. Seven years after Strong Medicine was released, CATIE spoke with two of its stars, Danita Wahpoosewyan and Trevor Stratton, to reflect on what has changed, what has remained the...